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Transforming Suffering
More than 6,000 lay friends attended the lay retreat at Bat Nha Monastery, Bao Loc, practicing four days and four nights of noble silence, refraining from talking, taking photos, or joking, in order to dwell peacefully and to transform the suffering in body and mind. Name and form (nāmarūpa) are body and mind, always interlinked, containing tension, pain, and restlessness; our practice does not stop at repentance ceremonies or making offerings, but is a treasury of wisdom accumulated over more than two thousand years, helping us to recognize, embrace, and transform our suffering, bringing peace first, and only then can there be happiness.
The practice of happiness taught by the Buddha is very practical; in four days, one can learn and practice many methods, and then continue in one’s family, community, and local temple. A simple and basic method in the Anapanasati Sutra consists of sixteen exercises, of which the first three are foundational:
- Clearly recognizing the in-breath and the out-breath.
- Following the breath from beginning to end, keeping the mind with the breath.
- Breathing in, being aware of the whole body; breathing out, releasing tension throughout the body.
Practicing releasing tension in all postures (walking, standing, sitting, lying down) and in all situations (driving, sitting meditation, walking meditation) helps to release tension, activate the body’s capacity for self-healing, and dwell peacefully in the present moment, like “sitting on a lotus flower,” not “sitting on a heap of burning coals.”